Air Quality and Comparative Exposure: A Parcel-Level Cumulative Risk Analysis in Providence, Rhode Island
SUMMARY OF RESULTS |
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Total Number of People Affected
The estimated baseline risk for the City of Providence, home to 173,618 people in 2000, is at least 1 in 100,000 (with risk originating from Narragansett Bay Commission's (NBC) hexavalent chromium emissions. This potential risk level increases in sections of the city closer to other air emitting facilities). In the study area (Lower South Providence, Washington Park, and Elmwood) urban air toxics emissions pose a greater than 5 in 100,000 excess potential cancer risk, with 24,600 people enduring that risk. Of these people, 20,376 people experience a greater than 11 in 100,000 risk, 6172 people experience a greater than 16 in 100,000 risk, 1212 people experience at least 31 in 100,000 risk, and 520 people experience at least 46 in 100,000 excess cancer risk from emissions by facilities in Washington Park/Lower South Providence. Table of total numbers of people in each geographic area and risk level
Demographic breakdown of Rhode Island's population is as follows: 85% white, 15% minority, and 9% Hispanic. Hispanic people fall within the "minority" classification, but because this study feels this demographic group is an important subset within the minority classification, it is included as a separate entity. "Minority" includes people of African, Asian and Pacific Island, Native American, and Hispanic descent. Demographic breakdown within Providence, where the risk is at least 1 in 100,000 from the facilities in the study area, is 46% white, 54% minority, and 30% Hispanic. Demographic breakdown within the study area, where the risk is at least 5 in 100,000, is the following: 27% white, 73% minority, and 47% Hispanic. Within urban areas (risk at least >1 in 100,000), and within our study area (risk at least >5 in 100,000), there is a greater proportion of minority and Hispanic people than white people, compared with the State as a whole. In addition, in Providence, where the increased risk of cancer due to air emissions is at least 1 in 100,000, the proportions of minority and Hispanic people is significantly higher than the proportions of white people (p<0.0000001). In the study area, where the risk is >5 in 100,000, and in the >11 in 100,000 section of the study area, the same trend occurs (p<0.0000001). Conversely, the proportions of white, minority, and Hispanic people seem to become statistically equal at risk levels greater than 16 in 100,000, and the proportions of white people seem to be higher in areas of risk greater than 31 in 100,000. Graph of demographic percentages Environmental equity also examines disproportionate impacts on low-income areas. But because the 2000 census data on income has not yet been released, the rest of the study uses 2000 data, and the 1990 income data is too old to be reliable, this study does not include income as a sociodemographic factor. |
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